EXCLUSIVE: Rodney Dangerfield Gets Respect — Secrets of 'Back to School' as Cult '80s Comedy Marks 40th Birthday
Rodney Dangerfield gets respect as 'Back to School' marks its 40th anniversary with secrets.
April 22 2026, Published 8:00 a.m. ET
The rip-roaring 1986 comedy Back to School didn't just make audiences laugh – RadarOnline.com can reveal it gave everyone, including its cast, a crash course in Rodney Dangerfield 101.
In the hit film, Dangerfield stars as wisecracking millionaire Thornton Mellon, a self-made dropout who enrolls at Grand Lakes University to encourage his miserable college-age son, Jason (Keith Gordon).
Back to School’s Wild Legacy Revealed
Rodney Dangerfield stars as Thornton Mellon in 'Back to School.'
Once on campus, Mellon becomes the ultimate big man on campus – throwing wild parties, clashing with stuffed-shirt academics, romancing a professor and, of course, attempting the now-legendary Triple Lindy to save the big diving meet.
The film's inspired cast mixed comedy veterans with future stars, including Sally Kellerman, Burt Young, Robert Downey Jr., William Zabka, Adrienne Barbeau, M. Emmet Walsh, Terry Farrell, Ned Beatty, Sam Kinison, Robert Picardo and Edie McClurg.
Even Kurt Vonnegut and Danny Elfman popped up in memorable cameos. What many didn't know at the time was that Dangerfield brought more of himself to Thornton than fans realized.
Long before he became a comedy legend whose signature line was "I tell ya, I get no respect," Dangerfield had worked as an acrobatic diver in Atlantic City in the 1950s and was known to be an excellent swimmer.
Like Thornton, Dangerfield had also once driven a truck. Even the golfing footage in Back to School was lifted from his earlier hit, Caddyshack.
Cast Reactions Surprise Fans
Sally Kellerman said she barely knew Dangerfield before 'Back to School' but later found him 'very sweet' and gentle.
Kellerman admitted she wasn't exactly starstruck when she first signed on. "I didn't really know who Dangerfield was," she said, joking that she'd mostly known him from a beer commercial.
But her opinion quickly changed. "The second day we met, he said, 'Did you change your hair?' And I said, 'No, did you?' After that I liked him so much. He's such an odd guy... very sweet. There's a gentleness to him."
Zabka, meanwhile, was hoping to avoid getting typecast as another rich bully after The Karate Kid. Playing obnoxious rival Chas, Zabka actually tried to make the character more eccentric and funny – giving him a goofy walk and even working in scarf-heavy flair. But director Alan Metter wasn't having it.
Zabka Told: Stay the Villain
William Zabka was told by Alan Metter to stay a jerk in 'Back to School' rather than make his character more comedic.
"We need you to be more like the guy you did in The Karate Kid," Metter told him. "You're coming off too likable and funny." So Chas stayed a jerk.
Zabka also never forgot his first meeting with Dangerfield – in a hotel elevator in Madison, Wis., where the comic was wearing a blue robe and heading to the sauna. Dangerfield explained, in classic Dangerfield fashion, that he had to "get the pot out of my lungs."
Behind the scenes, the movie had plenty of surprises. Harold Ramis, serving as executive producer, suggested changing Thornton from poor to rich – a move that made the whole premise funnier.
Comedy Hit Built Across Multiple Campuses
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Robert Downey Jr. juggled 'Saturday Night Live' while filming 'Back to School' during its production.
Downey Jr. was simultaneously working on Saturday Night Live, flying back and forth to shoot. And while "Grand Lakes University" looked like one campus, it was actually stitched together from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, USC and Cal State.
And audiences loved every ridiculous minute of it. Made for $11million, Back to School grossed more than $91million, becoming one of the biggest comedy hits of 1986 – and proving Dangerfield finally got a little respect.
